Science News

19-Feb-2017 Rigor and Reproducibility Policy One Year Later:How Has the Biomedical Community Responded? Leonard P. Freedman, PhD, president of Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) will lead a panel discussion convened by GBSI, titled “Rigor and Reproducibility One Year Later: How Has the Biomedical Community Responded?” Freedman will also ... – Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) Embargo expired on 19-Feb-2017 at 10:00 ET GBSI Report Shows Encouraging Progress Towards Addressing Reproducibility to Significantly Improve Quality of Preclinical Biological Research by Year 2020 One year after the Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) issued its Reproducibility2020 challenge and action plan for the biomedical research community, the organization reports encouraging progress toward the goal to significantly improve the... – Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) Embargo expired on 19-Feb-2017 at 10:00 ET 18-Feb-2017 Maize Study Finds Genes That Help Crops Adapt to Change A new study analyzed close to 4,500 maize varieties to identify more than 1,000 genes driving large-scale adaptation to the environment. – Cornell University Nature Genetics 17-Feb-2017 International Science Collaboration Growing at Astonishing Rate Even those who follow science may be surprised by how quickly international collaboration in scientific studies is growing, according to new research. The number of multiple-author scientific papers with collaborators from more than one country more ... – Ohio State University 2017 AAAS Annual Meeting Embargo expired on 17-Feb-2017 at 15:00 ET Alien Particles From Outer Space Are Wreaking Low-Grade Havoc on Personal Electronic Devices Alien subatomic particles raining down from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on your smartphones, computers and other personal electronic devices. – Vanderbilt University 2017 AAAS Presentation Embargo expired on 17-Feb-2017 at 08:00 ET Researchers Are First to See DNA 'Blink' Northwestern University biomedical engineers have developed imaging technology that is the first to see DNA “blink,” or fluoresce. The tool enables researchers to study individual biomolecules (DNA, chromatin, proteins) as well as important globa... – Northwestern University 2017 AAAS annual meeting, Feb. 17, 2017 Embargo expired on 17-Feb-2017 at 13:00 ET Chemicals Recognised as Human Endocrine Disruptors by EU For the first, the EU has identified four chemical compounds as being of concern to human health because of their endocrine disrupting properties – Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) Congo River Fish Evolution Shaped by Intense Rapids Genomic study in lower Congo reveals microscale diversification. – American Museum of Natural History Molecular Ecology Climate-Driven Permafrost Thaw In bitter cold regions like northwestern Canada, permafrost has preserved relict ground-ice and vast glacial sedimentary stores in a quasi-stable state. These landscapes therefore retain a high potential for climate-driven transformation. – Geological Society of America (GSA) Geology, doi: 10.1130/G38626.1 Thoroughbred Worker Health and Safety Study Results in Free Bilingual Safety Materials Researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Kentucky College of Public Health create bilingual safety guides for horse farm workers. – University of Maryland, Baltimore Placenta Provides Time Capsule for Autism Studies In two recent studies, researchers at UC Davis have shown that placental tissue can provide critical information about the epigenetic landscape that influences fetal development. – UC Davis MIND Institute There and Back Again: Catalyst Mediates Energy-Efficient Proton Transport for Reversibility Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that a complex with a proton pathway and stabilized by outer coordination sphere interactions is reversible for hydrogen production/oxidation at room temperature and pressure. – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ACS Catalysis 6(9):6037-6049. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b01433 Advanced Fusion Code Led by PPPL Selected to Participate in Early Science Programs on Three New DOE Office of Science Pre-Exascale Supercomputers Description of PPPL-led computer code selected to run on all three new pre-exascale supercomputers. – Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Tulane Team Wins NASA’s Big Idea Challenge for Spacecraft Design Tulane University engineering students’ innovative idea for a flower-shaped, solar-powered space ferry won the top prize in NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge, a national contest to design better ways to assemble spacecraft in space. – Tulane University Hacking the Way to Safer, Brighter City Streets Team Wingin' It, a five-member team of UNLV students and alumni, won the $10K grand prize at the Consumer Electronics Show life-hack competition for their clever approach to tracking City of Las Vegas streetlight outages. The city is now looking to i... Expert Available – University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) 16-Feb-2017 Indiana University Research: Rainbow Dyes Add Greater Precision in Fight Against 'Superbugs' A study reported Jan. 17 in the journal Science led by researchers at Indiana University and Harvard University is the first to reveal in extreme detail the operation of the biochemical clockwork that drives cellular division in bacteria. It is an im... – Indiana University Science; R01-GM113172-01 Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 14:00 ET Variability in Local Costs of Substance Abuse Across California The average news consumer might be surprised to learn that the economic costs of alcohol abuse far exceed those related to illegal drug use. In California, alcohol abuse cost $129 billion in 2010, $3,450 per California resident. That was almost three... – Research Society on Alcoholism Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 17:00 ET Immune Cell Serves as an Essential Communications Link for Migrating Cells Scientists at the University of Washington have discovered that macrophages, a common type of cell in the vertebrate immune system, can transmit messages between non-immune cells. Their paper, published online Feb. 16 in the journal Science, is the f... – University of Washington Science paper, Feb-2017, DOI (link active post-embargo) Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 14:00 ET Foot-and-Mouth Crises to Be Averted with Vaccination Strategy Future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) can be controlled effectively and quickly with vaccinations – saving millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of livestock – according to research by the University of Warwick. – University of Warwick PLOS Computational Biology Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 14:00 ET Can Facial Recognition Systems Help Save Lemurs? Michigan State University’s Anil Jain adapted his human facial recognition system to create LemurFaceID, the first computer facial recognition system for lemurs. Once optimized, LemurFaceID can assist with long-term research of the endangered speci... – Michigan State University BMC Zoology 2017, 10.1186/s40850-016-0011-9 Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 20:00 ET Snow and Soil in Cooperation Snow is fun for sledding and skiing, but what is its role in soil protection? The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) February 15 Soils Matter blog post explains the crucial role of snow for healthy soils. – Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 12:00 ET Microbiomes, Exomoons, Solar Nebula, Ferroelectrics, and More in the DOE Science News Source Click here to go directly to the DOE Science News Source – Newswise Climate Change Impacting Wildlife, Feeding Wild Dolphins, Conserving Blakiston's Fish Owl, and More in the Wildlife News Source The latest research and features on ecology and wildlife. – Newswise Biochemical Tricks of the Hibernating Bear Winter is in full swing, and many of us have fantasized about curling up in a warm cave and slumbering until the warmth of spring arrives, just like a bear. Bears have the ability to sleep away the harsh winter months when food is scarce. They can sp... – American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Journal of Biological Chemistry Scientists Find Evidence of Alaskan Ecosystem Health in Harlequin Ducks A new study led by researchers from Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) shows that Harlequin Ducks in coastal areas of Alaska’s Kodiak and Unalaska islands are exposed to environmental sources of mercury and that mercury concentrations in their b... – Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) Marine Pollution Bulletin Feb 2017 When Treating Brain Aneurysms, Two Isn’t Always Better Than One Is it better to treat aneurysms with two overlapping flow diverters, or one compressed diverter? A computational study published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology points to the single, compressed diverter provided that it produces a mesh dens... – University at Buffalo American Journal of Neuroradiology India's Big Cats and Wild Dogs Get Along Really Well A new WCS study in India shows that three carnivores – tigers, leopards, and dholes (Asian wild dog) – seemingly in direct competition with one other, are living side by side with surprisingly little conflict. – Wildlife Conservation Society Four-Stroke Engine Cycle Produces Hydrogen from Methane and Captures CO2 When is an internal combustion engine not an internal combustion engine? When it’s been transformed into a modular reforming reactor that could make hydrogen available to power fuel cells wherever there’s a natural gas supply available. – Georgia Institute of Technology Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research ; 0928716 Is Your Big Data Messy? We’re Making an App for That Vizier, software under development by a University at Buffalo-led research team, aims to proactively catch big data errors. The project, backed by a $2.7 million National Science Foundation grant, launched in January. Like Excel, Vizier will allow us... – University at Buffalo National Science Foundation, 1640864 'Resurrecting' Tiny Lake-Dwelling Animals to Study Evolutionary Responses to Pollution A University of Michigan biologist combined the techniques of "resurrection ecology" with the study of dated lake sediments to examine evolutionary responses to heavy-metal contamination over the past 75 years. – University of Michigan The American Naturalist Underwater Seagrass Beds Dial Back Polluted Seawater Seagrass meadows – bountiful underwater gardens that nestle close to shore and are the most common coastal ecosystem on Earth – can reduce bacterial exposure for corals, other sea creatures and humans. – Cornell University Food Additive Found in Candy, Chewing Gum Could Alter Digestive Cell Structure and Function The ability of small intestine cells to absorb nutrients and act as a barrier to pathogens is “significantly decreased” after chronic exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, a common food additive found in everything from chewing gum to br... – Binghamton University, State University of New York NanoImpact, Jan-2017 Scarcity of Resources Led to Violence in Prehistoric Central California A longtime Cal Poly Pomona anthropology professor who studies violence among prehistoric people in California has been published in a prestigious journal. – California State Polytechnic University Pomona Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Protein Structure Solved From Smallest Crystals Yet An international team of scientists used an X-ray laser at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to determine the structure of an insect virus’s crystalline protein “cocoon.” – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Gati et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 15 February 2017 (10.1073/pnas.1609243114) A Few Facts About Wheat This infographic presents key facts about wheat: production, cultivation, consumption, export value. – International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium Researchers Engineer Intestinal Tissue with Functioning Nervous System For the first time, NIH-funded researchers have used stem cells to grow intestinal tissues with a functioning nervous system. The advance creates new opportunities for studying intestinal diseases, nutritional health, and diabetes. It also brings res... – National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering TR000546; EB021780; DK098350; DK103117 SciWire Announcements Government of Nigeria Drops Buffer Zone for Superhighway Project but More Must Be Done to Protect Communities and Wildlife The Cross River State government’s announcement yesterday to drop a 12-mile buffer around a proposed superhighway though one of Nigeria’s last rainforests is still not enough to prevent the loss of important community forests and significant impa... – Wildlife Conservation Society UTEP and Local High School Students Win United Launch Alliance CubeSat Competition Students from the NASA MIRO Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research, or cSETR, at The University of Texas at El Paso have been selected as first place winners of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) CubeSat launch competition, known as CubeC... – University of Texas at El Paso